Button.



O. L. THATGHER.

.BUTTON.

APPLIUATION FILED MAR. 12, 1914.

Patented July 21, 1914-.

a ll/1111111111 IIIIIIII smwm 620/7288 mazzler V UNITED STATES PATENTonnron.

CHARLES L. THATCI-IER,; OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR T IRONSAND RUSSELL COMPANY, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, A CORPORATION OFMAINE.

" BUTTON.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented July 21, 1914.

Application filed March 12, 1914. Serial No. 824,226.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES L. THA'ronnR, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and resldent of the city; of Providence, in the county ofProvidence and State of Rhode Island, havewhich a lever or lookingmember is pivotally connected, said member having portions extending onopposite sides ofthe pivoting point'and adapted to be turned upsubstantially in line with the post to facilitate passing through thebuttonhole and subsequently to be turned down at substantially right angles to the post to engage the back side of the fabric and lockthe'button in position.

I A further object of the invention is to pivot the lever member to thepost with its pivoting axis substantially in line with the readingmatter on the front of the button,

whereby to position the button in the hole it is first turned a quarterturn from its normal reading position and when turned back the pair ofgripping fingers on said lever engage the fabric on opposite sides ofthe buttonhole to firmly retain the. button in position on the garment.

One of the features of this invention is that the back or attachingportion 'of the button is connected permanently to the front so that theparts cannot be separated and lost.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction, as will be more fully described andparticularly pointed out iii the appended claims.

Of the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a View showing the back of thebutton in position for locln'ng the button in the buttonhole of thecoat. Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the shape of the lever member asstruck from sheet stock. Fig. 3 shows the shape of the lever memberhaving its joint arms bent up in position and engaging the pivot on thepost. Fig. 4 shows the lever member pivotally connected to the buttonpost and turned up in line with said post.

.Fig. 5'shows the lever member as tipped down at right angles to thepost showing the same in position to engage the fabric on each side ofthepivoting point and grip the same against the back of the front plate.

, Fig. 6 shows the front button plate and post with its plvoting pintleformed thereon. Fig. 7 shows the relation between the reading matter onthe emblem and the axis of the pivoting pintle. Fig. 8 is a view showingthe lever member in the position in which the button is most readilyadapted to be turned at right angles after having been positioned in thebuttonhole and before it is turned back into position to grip thefabric.

Referring tohthe drawing, 10 designates the front plate of thebuttonwhich may be i in any desired shape or form, and which may carry on 1tsface any suitable ornament or emblem. On the back of the button is apost 11 which may be secured solder or other suitable means. is providedwith a pintle 12 preferably formed integral therewith and the axis ofthis pintle is preferably set in line with the thereto by reading matteron the button face so that. when the but-ton is in proper position inthe buttonhole the axis of the pintle will be upright, in other words,the axis of the pintle will be at right angles to the buttonhole throughwhich the post extends. I

The lever member 13 is preferably struck from a piece of sheet stockinto the form best illustrated in Fig. 2 having two middle spaced apartparallel fingers 14 and two edge binding fingers 15. The next operationis to bend the whole member into substantially the form illustrated inFig. 5, the fingers 14 being raised, and bent or folded around the pivot12 on the post 11, the ends of the fingers 15 being turnedslightlydownward so as to engage, grip and bind the fabric a, while theoperating portion 16 on the side of the pivot opposite to that of thefingers 15, is bent downward so that the portion 17 will rest upon thefabric and the extremity will stand slightly. upward to be engaged bythe thumb and finger of the wearer when it is desired to manipulate thesame. By this construction it will be noted that the fingers 15 extendto one side of the pivoting point and the portion 16 on the oppositeside thereof so that after the lever has been This post moved to lockedposition it is anchored and no pressure or pull on the front plate cancause the lever member to be moved to release position. By constructingthe lever member in this Way the extremities 18 of these fingers 15 arepreferably slightly rounded so as to slide over the fabric when thelever is moved to engaging position after being passed through thebutton hole without catching into and injuring the nap or fibers of thefabric.

Another feature of my improved button is that the lever member may beturned up as illustrated in l substantially in line with the post 11 soas to facilitate the passing of the same through the buttonhole in thecoat of the wearer.

The operation of my improved button may be described as follows: Thelever is first turned up into the position illustrated in Fig. l and ispassed through the button hole. The lever is then preferably turned intothe position illustrated in Fig. 8 in which the little engaging fingers15 extend upward to permit the button to be readily turned in thebuttonhole without these fin.- gers engaging the fabric. After thebutton has been positioned so that the reading mat,- ter is in correctposition the lever member is then turned over into the positionillustrated in Fig. 5 whereby the fingers 15 and the portion 17 of thelever engage and grip the fabric on opposite sides of the post bind.-ing the same firmly against the inner side of the front plate andholding the button securely in position.

I claim:

1. A button comprising a front plate having a buttonhole engaging post,a retaining member carriedby said post having a pair of yieldable fabricengaging fingers the whole being adapted to be rotated a quarter turnafter passing through the buttonhole and means whereby said fingers maybe moved to yieldably grip the fabric and bind the same against the backof the front plate.

2. A button of the character described comprising a front portion havinga button.- hole engaging post, a retaining member pivoted on said postand having portions extending on opposite sides of the pivoting point,said member being adapted to be turned up substantially in line with thepost to facilitate passing through the buttonhole and subsequently to beturned down at substantially right angles thereto to engage the fabricand lock the button in position.

3. A button comprising a front plate having a buttonhole engaging post,a retaining member pivoted on said post and having one or more yieldablefabric engagingfing-ers extending to one side of the pivot, and

a binding and manipulating portion on the other side of said pivot, saidmember being adapted to be turned up substantially in line with the postto facilitate positioning in the buttonhole of the wearer and to beturned down on its post at substantially right angles thereto to lockthe button in position.

' 4:. A button comprising a front plate having a buttonhole engagingpost, a retaining member pivoted on said post and having a pair ofyieldable fabric engaging fingers extending to one side of the post, anda binding and manipulating portion on the other side of said pivot, saidmember being adapted to be turned up substantially in line with the postto facilitate positioning in the buttonhole of the wearer, the wholebeing adapted to be rotated a quarter turn after passing through thebuttonhole and the retaining member then turned down at sub stantiallyright angles to the post to cause said fingers to yieldably grip thefabric and bind the same against the back of the front plate.

In testimony whereof I itffiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES L. THATCHER. Witnesses E. I. OGDEN, A. F. MAoRnAnY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Yatents,

Washington, D. C.

